Help a rookie fix his paint job

[zerojosh]

Hey guys,

I recently was given an entirely dilapidated Ms. Pacman machine.  Due to its extremely poor condition, and this being my first attempt, I've been cutting some pretty big corners in its restoration/re-purposing but the paint job has turned out awful and I was wondering if you had any tips.  Before spraying black, I sanded down the cab, between my sanding job being  and using cheapspray glossy black, the paint is all kinds of uneven and reflecting at different angles.  Would using some kind of matte or other product benefit?

Thanks guys!

[Eddie_Brock]

When it comes to spray painting, you need to be patient.
I sprayed mine (glossy) black, and it looks great. That being said, it was the longest part of my construction.
Make sure you completely sanded down your cab to a point that you're happy with. You want to do several coats of lightly-applied paint, not 2 heavy coats. Make sure you sand down between coats, preferrably 1000 or 2000 grit sandpaper to make the job smooth.

There are lots of tutorials out there, both on this site and online on painting with spray. Read up, and like I said, patience is the most important aspect.

Good luck!

[drventure]

+1 what eddie said.

Check out OND's thread on the Retro-Future Arcade to see what's involved with a good paint job (ok, his is way beyond even good, but you get the idea  )

It just takes a while.

You might want to check out that spray body filler stuff. It's like a super thick primer that you spray on.

Spray a coat of that, sand like hell, then spray it again, sand and maybe again.

That should get the surface down smooth enough where a gloss finish can look good.

You could also laminate, but that can get $$$

[zerojosh]

Woah - I had no idea that sanding was part of the painting process, I would have assumed that'd take the paint back off.  Thanks guys!

[yotsuya]

The key is to really take your time. Paint, sand, paint, sand. If you want it to look good, you just need to take the time. It's tough, I know, because you want to just get it done, but you really won't regret it when all is said and done.

[drventure]

Yep, it will take +some+ of the paint off, but what you're really doing is filling in the minute grain pores and other imperfections in the wood.

You paint, the sand down a little, then paint again, which fills in more pores, and sand again, repeat, repeat.

That spray on primer filler helps because it's so thick, you shouldn't have to put on near as many coats before you get a flawless finish that you can really paint.